Busan Satoori Series #1 – 야 쫌!

Reply Me 1997 (응답하라 1997) is like THE drama these days in Korea, and with its increasing popularity, it seems like many more people are more aware / interested in the Busan dialect! 😀 It’s really hard to find long clips of people speaking the busan dialect, but now we get 16eps of 사투리 goodness! 😀 With the motivation and material to work with, I’ll be trying to learn (and share) the Busan satoori from now, using clips from the drama! ^^ Not sure if it will be helpful to you guys, but let me know! 😀

Disclaimer: all partial transcripts etc are done by me and me alone. And some explanations are from me too. So, let me know if you spot any mistakes!

hahaha here’s an audio clip of me explaining the satoori! hehe I think I’m still very used to the rising intonation for Seoul dialect, so I think I made a few mistakes here and there after listening to myself again. I’ll get better! You may have to wait for the player to load!

If it’s too slow, try this player!

Busan dialect (seoul dialect)

1. 아 (애)

시원: 아까 아들 표정을 봤어야 되는데 (아까 애들 표정을 봤어야 되는데)

아들 is not to be confused with the same word for ‘son’. As seen in the clip, Siwon says 아 more forcefully.

More examples

가 (그 아이)

가가 (그애가 )

If you have tried searching Busan dialect before, you would have seen the famous example of 가가가가. It may seem a little strange to see that something like that has meaning, but if you realized it, it means 그 애가 그 애니? (is that guy THAT guy?) and obviously you are not going to say it in a monotone. So the intonation helps to make the meaning clear!

2. 문다 (먹다)

윤제: 아 쫌~ 정상적으로 문자 [묻자] (아 이씨~! 정상적으로 먹자!)

It’s so cute that everyone is trying to offer Yoonjae food and he gets annoyed. 아 쫌~ is another phrase we will be looking at later. The first (and perhaps only) busan dialect that most of us will come across is the 밥 문나? [밤 뭉나?] which means 밥 먹었니? The [] is how you should pronounce it, taking into account the sound changes.

3. 가시나 (기집애?)

It is term to call young girls and it’s a form of 애칭 (endearing term), so it’s used to someone that you are close with. It’s actually interesting to look at the origin of the term and apparently it comes from a historical term 화랑제도 which is explained below. I’m not familiar with Korean history, but apparently this rule(?) was first formed with young girls in mind. And in Shilla dynasty, 화랑 is also known as 가시나, with 가시 meaning flower, and 나 is a 2nd way of reading 郞. (you know how kanji has more than 1 reading? Same logic!) [source]

억수로. This is a word that we are going to hear alot in the drama too! Remember the other time I shared in this post on how 억수로 is just ONE (but the most common) of the many ways to say 많이 in Busan dialect?

5. 야 쫌!!!! (야~ 조용히 해라/그만해라!!!)

유정: 야 쫌!!!!!

hahaha this has got to be my most favorite phrase of the clip 😛 It’s so cool how one single syllable can have such a.. strong meaning xD

6. 개안타 (괜찮다)

준회: 차인표 더 개안텐데 (차인표 더 괜찮을 텐데)

other examples: 아~ 가 개안타 (아~ 그애가 괜찮은 아이야)

Another commonly heard word in the drama. Pretty much self explanatory!

hangukdrama

Lucie D

15 September, 2012 at 4:17 AM

I remember when my penfriend (from Busan) once mentioned in his messages that he is interested in various dialects. I guess at times when I hear Korean, but it sounds different to what I’m used to, I guess they just come from a different area.
Speaking of dialects makes me think of pronunciation. How did you actually learn pronunciation as a self-learner. Sorry to ask, if you answered this in another post (I just haven’t come across it). I know I sound very foreign whenever I pronounce anything, so I just avoid speaking. I don’t have anyone to talk to anyway. I tried using an ipad app. which also shows the “wave” thingy and I just can’t get it right.
Thanks! 🙂 Have a nice weekend!

hangukdrama

15 September, 2012 at 11:52 AM

we all started sounding foreign, so dont worry about it. Try to practice more and you will get closer to the sound 😀 Also, listen to a lot of input. I think we all will start out with an awkward intonation, but dun get put off by it. ^^ I can imagine myself sounding terrible if I learn something like Russian or French, with all the unfamiliar sounds. >< But that doesnt mean we should avoid speaking. Just try!
Which app is that?

hangukdrama

Lucie D

16 September, 2012 at 11:07 PM

I downloaded the WordUP Korean LITE ~ Mirai Language Systems, which contains a set of basic words. I’ve been thinking whether I should get the full version with like 10000 words. I find apps useful for language study, when I’m travelling to and from work (two hours daily). Still need to test out the pronunciation thingy where I record myself and then compare with a native. Hopefully it helps a little bit in my self-learning journey.

Chornghi

15 September, 2012 at 10:28 PM

lol I can’t catch/hear what they’re saying. thanks for your explanations.
I thought it would be like kansai-ben of Japanese but kansai-ben is pretty easy to understand… this is probably more like the akita-ben (as far as level of difficulty with understsanding /catching what they’re saying with my ability to understand standard Japanese) of Japanese since I can’t even catch what they’re saying

the way they say stuff makes it so hard to catch what they’re saying… how would you describe this… just some extreme intonation?

hangukdrama

Bio

17 September, 2012 at 9:16 PM

Do you really not try/intend to put on translations for the example sentences? I mean, not all of us have the same level of comprehension as yours so I always wonder why you don’t put translations in any Korean text you place in here… We don’t exactly know sometimes how the Korean sentence/word intends to mean in English…

hangukdrama

18 September, 2012 at 1:23 PM

haha a large part of the reason why I don’t is that my blog is not about teaching Korean and also I don’t like English translations cos it usually changes the meaning of the original Korean sentences. If you encounter any difficult words, it’s usually better for you to check the dictionary and in that way, you will be learning something and hands-on is usually better rather than looking at the provided translations. This is why I never bother with glossary lists etc in Korean textbooks. The meanings are written down for me but I still insist on checking each word on the Naver dictionary by myself. If you really don’t understand something after checking, you can always leave a comment and I’ll try to explain. I did ask on twitter yesterday whether I should put translations etc and I get very .. polarized views. Still thinking about it (:

Amal

25 September, 2012 at 9:43 PM

I have fallen in love with this blog. Yet another great post. I like the examples that you have given.
I didn’t even now that they spoke Satoori in this drama. Makes me want to watch it even more! And you pull it of cute well. I don’t know why but I can hear a Simon D in your voice. Have watched to many shows where he’s been on. Absolutely love that accent 🙂

hangukdrama

I like imitating the the Busan accent cause the intonation sounds weird but it’s fun and easy to imitate. Anyways, thank you for posting this, I appreciate this very much. I never knew that the dialect would be so different from the Incheon dialect. No wonder I don’t hear what I’m used to and I thought that I would be learning some Korean from that drama, but I’m so glad that you explain the satoori thingy. Now I understand the Busan dialect better. At first all I know is the difference between the north and south’s language. FYI I’m interested in these dialect and accent stuff. Learned a lot from here and thank you very much!